Topping & Company Booksellers of St Andrews

🌸 'Pink: The History of a Color' by Michel Pastoureau 🌸 'Japanese Prints in Transition' by Rhiannon Paget 🌸 'The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop' by Takuya Asakura

We are sad to see its season is coming to an end... but we have enjoyed watching all the petals fall to the ground. If you're going to miss the blossoms as much as we will, maybe some of these books will fill the gap.

"They blossom, and then We gaze, and then the blooms Scatter, and then…" – Uejima Onitsura We are very lucky to have a beautiful Japanese cherry tree just across the road, which has been in full bloom all April.

Participants looking to steel their nerves for the cold water might want to take a look at some of our wild swimming books, which assure there are many physical and mental benefits to cold-water dips (even if in the moment, you're only thinking about the pain!).

At sunrise tomorrow, the seas of St Andrews will flood with students for May Dip! A stand-out among the university's many traditions, students cleanse their academic sins (most famously incurred by stepping on Patrick Hamilton's 'PH') in the freezing waters of the North Sea.

Our east-facing windows have been bringing some beautiful late-April sunlight into the bookshop. Do drop by while you're out enjoying the beautiful weather – after all, what's better than reading a book outside in the sunshine?

📜 'When the Forest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World' by Suzanne Simard 📜 'Wilderlands: The Human History of Wild Britain' by Eloise Kane 📜 'Walking Shadow: Love, Loss and Shakespeare' by Gregory Doran

NON-FICTION 📜 'Famesick' by Lena Dunham 📜 'The Lost Folk' by Lally Macbeth (new in paperback!) 📜 'On Revolution' by Hannah Arendt (with a new foreword by David Runciman)

New publications round-up! April has been very fruitful for bookish folk – here are some of this month's new titles that we've had our eyes on.

His accounts reads like long-form journalism, and throughout this book, Lewis both educates and entertains you, giving you a tour of the world in his own unique way."

'A Quiet Evening' contains a collection of 36 excellent pieces he wrote throughout his long career, taking you from the jungles of Guatemala to the hills of Sardinia.

Looking for your next read? Peter has just gotten back from a holiday, and still seems to be travelling the world in his head. Here's his recommendation for travel writer Norman Lewis' collection 'A Quiet Evening'.

As writer-in-residence at the University's School of Modern Languages, Christina will be giving a talk this Friday at 5pm in School I of United College in conversation with Dr Liliana Chávez Díaz, where we will have copies of her books for sale. See you there!

More signed books have hit our shelves! Dr Christina Rivera Garza, one of Latin America's best-known and most celebrated writers, dropped by to sign some copies of her many books.

Since he's been around for a while, we have a large collection not only of Shakespeare's works, but of the many books that have been written about him. Why not visit our drama section and take a look?

23rd April is the date of William Shakespeare's birth AND death... at least, we're fairly sure it is. It's historians' best guess. Happy birthday, Shakespeare!

You can find them above the Blind Date books in our fiction section – us booksellers are particularly fond of "The Wall" and "The Mermaid of Black Conch".

In observance, we're highlighting the Vintage Earth series, a collection of novels from across the globe that, according to the publishers, "change the way we think about — and act upon — the most urgent story of our times: the climate crisis".

Happy Earth Day from the bookshop! Inaugurated in 1970, Earth Day is a global event in support of the environmental movement and environmental protection.